Nationals’ infielder Luis Garcia has been dealing with a sore groin and may be headed to the injured list. Manager Dave Martinez relayed this info to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com, who added C.J. Abrams was pulled from the Rochester Red Wings lineup today. Dan J. Glickman of Pickin’ Splinters then relayed word from Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy that the removal of Abrams was on order of the big league club, with ESPN’s Jeff Passan later confirming that Abrams will indeed be called up.
Abrams, of course, was one of the pieces coming to Washington in the Juan Soto trade, with many considering him the centerpiece of Washington’s return in the deal. Abrams got some MLB time with the Padres this year, though the Nats initially optioned him to the minors after the trade. With Garcia’s injury, it seems like he is set to make his debut as a National, about two weeks after the trade.
Even before this injury popped up, recent reporting had suggested Abrams would take over at shortstop, with Garcia moving over to second base due to his poor defensive showing at short. Abrams should take over regular shortstop duty for now, with Garcia eventually slotting in next to him at the keystone whenever his groin heals. Currently considered the #11 prospect across the league by Baseball America, Abrams hasn’t hit much at the major league level yet, but he’s hit .310/.360/.480 in Triple-A this season. He’ll celebrate his 22nd birthday in October.
In other NL East news…
- Phillies’ slugger Bryce Harper will take batting practice tomorrow for the first time since fracturing his thumb in June, with Matt Gelb of The Athletic relaying word from skipper Rob Thomson. Harper was dealing with torn UCL before that thumb issue, which had limited him to DH duties only. Though it was hoped the downtime from the thumb issue might lead to improvement in the elbow, that doesn’t seem to be the case, with the club just focusing on getting Harper’s bat back into the lineup for now. On that front, getting Harper back into BP is a notable step. Despite the torn UCL, Harper has hit .318/.385/.599 on the year for a wRC+ of 166. Getting him back to the Phils would obviously provide a huge boost down the stretch, as the club looks to battle its way through a tough postseason race with less than two months now remaining on the schedule.
- While the progress of Harper is good news, the Phillies also got some bad news today. Reliever Corey Knebel left today’s game with a lat strain, the team announced to reporters, including Gelb. The severity isn’t yet known, with Knebel now slated for an MRI that will likely provide more information. The hurler has a 3.45 ERA on the season, though his 20.9% strikeout rate and 13.6% walk rates both represent career worsts. Things looked much rosier earlier this month, as Knebel had a 2.59 ERA until a five-run outing on August 2. Taking that one outing away would certainly make his numbers look better, though the lack of punchouts and increased free passes are still concerning.
- The Mets announced to reporters, including Tim Britton of The Athletic, that infielder Luis Guillorme left today’s game with left groin tightness. He will undergo imaging tomorrow. Though it’s unclear how serious the issue is, the timing is unfortunate as the Mets’ infield has been taking a beating of late. Both Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil had to leave Friday’s game due to injuries, which forced the club to turn to outfield Mark Canha as an emergency third baseman. Escobar relieved Guillorme today and McNeil started the game, so it doesn’t appear terribly dire. However, the club may have to consider adding another infielder to the roster in order to build in some rest for such a banged-up group.
Bring up Vientos
Let’s give him the next month and a half to see if he will boost the post season lineup.
Though I’d like to see Baty, he needs his Triple A reps so Vientos would be the proper call-up if Guillorme needs an IL stint.
Vientos is worse at 3b than JDD…. By quite a bit. He’s a DH.
if it’s to replace Luis in a platoon role at 3b then it’s Baty
He’s been ready.
Coonrod seems almost ready to take Knebel’s place.
Guess Keith was right again, the Phils just don’t show up when playing the overachievers.
Phils played 2 great games and today failed to hit with RISP multiple times. Harper and Scwarber’s absence was really felt. Not a bad series, but at the end of the day, the Mets are just significantly better than the Phils.
Didn’t “show up” he says after they won on Friday and lost a close one yesterday. NYM’s better, just that darn simple.
They scored two runs all series, the teams are worlds apart.
I’m a Mets fan, but I would not call them ‘worlds apart’. A few things:
-they faced Scherzer and deGrom, no one scores on them
-games were in NY
-they’re missing Harper and only got one pinch hit AB from an injured Schwarber
Four games in Philly coming up. Should be an awesome series.
Mets immediately made an error in the top of the 5th after the Phillies misplayed the ball in the bottom of the 4th, so please stop with the Keith comments. No one cares about them. And stop calling the Mets ‘overachievers’ while citing zero evidence and calling out zero players. This is your 8 millionth post doing it.
Phillies played great in two out of three games in NY. They’re a great team who is about to get even better when Bryce is back. This is a great race with three of the hottest teams in baseball*. Stop with your childishness on every post relating to any of the teams.
*not counting head-to-head matchups, each team’s record since July 28th:
-Mets – 8-1
-Braves – 8-0
-Phillies – 10-1
Truth be told, I don’t think Keith is totally wrong about them playing baseball in an odd manner, but I draw the line at his suggestion that it’s unwatchable. NYM has won most of the H2H games, which doesn’t surprise me because they are simply better, but most of the games they’ve played against each other have felt like good ones to me.
Agreed. Next eight Mets games are four in Atlanta and four in Philly. Can’t wait.
We will dominate like we have all year in my opinion.
And two against the Yankees, I believe.
Phillies are better than Braves. After beating up on both teams. you guys. it was just easier to beat up on
Is that you resign Swanson? Had to change names after last weekend?
Where’d resign Swanson go?
Where’d Resign Swanson go? Or did the beating the Braves took last weekend force you to change names? Crying that other teams can’t beat the Mets when your own team can’t.
Where’d Resign Swanson go? Or did the beating the Braves took last weekend force you to change names? Crying that other teams can’t beat the Mets when your own team can’t.
Crying cause another team can’t beat the Mets, when your own team can’t.
Washington should have all of their newly acquired prospects on their major league roster already (those who are ready of course). Abrams can’t prove much more in AAA; he needs time in the majors to develop. It’s not like he’s going to cost them important games at this point. Get these kids the experience they need so they can feel confident coming into next season as major league starters. If Abrams had managed just 5 more hits for SD, his major league average would have been .272 so he’s ready for the show.
3 of the 5 prospects they got are in the low-to-mid minors. Abrams and Gore should be in the MLB at this point. Voit shoulda been on a different contender by the deadline
They can probably flip Voit this offseason, or even the deadline next year. He seems to be hitting well for them, building up some value.
On Abrams, he really should have played more in the minors for SD, but with the whole Tatis situation he was up earlier than he should have been. Everyday reps are the biggest thing for him with how few ABs he’s had in his career to date
With regard to Guillorme, he doesn’t appear to have any muscles to pull. Call you pull or tweak fat?
He has beard muscle. Glorious beard muscle.
Decades from now the true baseball historians will measure greatness not in terms of woba or wrc, but by “longest spring training at bat” and “most dastardly bat catch.”
And so the legend will live on.
You know it’s Guillorme and not Vogelbach right?
Aren’t they twins, separated at birth?
That’s an odd take on one of the best defensive players in the league.
“Magic Hands”
Guillorme is pure muscle. He’s just thick.
So, you’re saying he’s slow on the uptake?
Got a training session set up for 3:30 AM tomorrow so I’m just going to pull an all nighter so I don’t miss it. I’ll start stretching around 3 and leave for the gym around 3:20. There will probably be that guy who wears trash bags as a shirt riding the bike and that other guy in gray sweats who talks to himself but shouldn’t be too crowded so I can get my gains on
Mets need someone who can back up Lindor at short. That’s the biggest reason not to call Vientos.
Right, but if they’re not calling Vientos up now, then when will they? The same group of guys will likely be around next year (Alonso, McNeil, Lindor, Guillorme, Escobar, Vogelbach/Ruf are all under contract for next year), with Baty probably coming up early in the season. Unless they’re trading someone away in the offseason, when does Vientos even get a chance?
Escobar gone and Vientos could take Ruf/Escobar role.
Mostly ruf bc he can’t field.
Escobar gone where? He’s getting paid $9.5 million next year. Unless they manage a trade or just eat it, he’ll be there.
Yes I want Cohen to eat it.
Let Escobar warm the bench.
Seems Mauricio could get a call up in case of emergency need? But some media pundits are suggesting Katoh.
Katoh is part of a small taxi squad traveling with the team, but he would have to be moved to the 40-man before being selected to the active roster.
McNeil had a cut on his thumb, nothing earth shattering.
Escobar is limited to hitting lefthanded, his weaker side. It’s odd that we are now wondering how to replace, wait for it, JD Davis!
Are you sure you’re a philly fan? You’re too objective to be a philly fan. I was watching HK’s call of Schmidty’s 500th and couldn’t help but opine how terrible your guys are. To go from the greatest (sorry Vin) baseball announcer to this slop is very sad.
It’s actually funny because Keith is almost always objective but he has moments like these where he just hammers certain teams. Though he has said things like this about the Mets, too believe it or not. You also have to consider that when Keith said what he said about the Phillies, he had only watched them through May this year. From that perspective, the Phils were playing very bad baseball, at least against us. I watched every game against the Phils this year. Their brand of baseball from April to when Girardi got fired was the worst fielding I have seen from philly… ever. The bullpen was horrible too.
It’s incredible, the level of ignorance concerning Harper’s “slight ucl tear”. Every article I’ve read, the “sportswriter”, marvels at how well Harper has hit ( and with usual power), after injuring the ligament in mid-April. If any common sense was utilized, they would deduce what is painfully obvious. The slight tear, only affects throwing the ball. Hitting, or running the bases, isn’t impacted in any way.
Really nice to have an orthopedic surgeon on here. Please provide the training you have undergone and your own personal experience trying to hit with this injury so we all benefit from your obvious knowledge.
He should have had the elbow surgery once he broke his thumb, these teams treating this year like it’s the last mlb season when they aren’t actual contenders. It seems quite obvious he needs the surgery so rather do it now after he’s already been out for 2 months.
@iverbure Harper wanted to avoid surgery entirely. His injury doesn’t necessarily require surgery. He was and is hoping rest and the injections does the trick. It doesn’t impact his bat at all. The Phillies can also win 90+ games. That’s contender worthy IMO. Certainly not amongst th elite like the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees and Astros, but up there with the Tier 2 teams. Quite frankly, in recent years, the Tier 2 teams often make it deep in the playoffs. Not saying the Phillies will, but the idea that they should just tank the season and get a surgery they may not even need or want seems a bit crazy to me. It’s up to Harper. He wants to play.
I don’t see why all the writers are obsessing over this fact. We get it – he can’t play OF. Nothing having changed there makes sense because he never got surgery.
We have differing understandings of “ignorance,” “marvels,” “common sense,” “utilized,” “deduced,” “obvious,” and “impacted.” Otherwise, I completely agree.
That’s rough for the Mets. Losing Escobar, McNeil, and Guillmore all in less than a week? Gotta get a semi-decent patch-job done quickly. A 5.5 game lead on the Braves is nothing at this point in the season.
They didn’t really lose McNeil. He came right back for the next two games. Escobar played today. They’ll be fine. Plus they’ve owned the Braves.
McNeil & Escobar were hardly lost. McNeil looks to be at 100%. Escobar maybe 50% because he couldn’t switch hit today. Jury is still out on Guillorme. He might be heading for the IL
Braves have a new weapon called Vaughn Grissom. Bring on the Mets.
Lol
You’ll need more than one guy with 15 career at bats to fill in as long as fragile Ronald is taking every 4th game off to rest his wittle wegs.
Vaughn Grissom is one of the names of the cpu-generated draft picks in All Star Baseball 2001 when you move to the next season in franchise mode.
Like Jose Guerrero, Bagwell Raines, and Boone Puckett. Mo Marquis has a ring to it.
The Nationals bring up the best “singles hitter prospect” of all time in CJ Abrams. He’s not better then Volpe or Peraza. Lots of luck Nats!
‘Singles hitter prospect’? He’s 21 and has slugged .511 in the minors. Am I missing a joke here?
Yes that’s nice, .511 all singles
So hid AVG is .511? That would arguably be even more impressive.
Call up Baty or Vientos already.
I guess, not many people were watching when Keith Hernandez said he doesn’t like the city of Philadelphia during a weekday afternoon telecast at Miami 2-3 years ago. So his latest isn’t surprising.
Not liking a city is fine. It’s a matter of taste. Saying a team has been unwatchable over the years when you covered the 2007-2013 Mets is pure nonsense.
Again with this, Von? Getting a little old.
If I wanted to be a whiner like you, I’d refer you to the Phillies broadcast today when they cried about the Mets lack of a hard hit rate. It’s, all over social media. Those broadcasters should get the number for the WAAAAAMBULANCE from the Braves.
Oh, and I hope you enjoyed your series L today. See you in Philly.
He is right. Wilpons Mets were horrible. Keith was just trying to put a spotlight on himself.
The Phillies announcers have been terrible for quite awhile, but they’ve praised the Mets all season. The Mets hit a ton of weak bloops today and the announcers commented on that. Vogelbach also crushed one and the announcers mentioned that as well. The better team won. No surprise here. If you can’t see the difference between discussing hard hit rates and saying you refuse to cover a team because you consider them unwatchable, then I can’t really help you. Also important to remember Keith said it during a Reds game. Big difference. You can call it whining all you want. I never brought it up. Just commenting on other comments.
The Mets are hitting and playing small ball like the 2015 Royals did when they sliced and diced the Mets to take 4 out of 5 on the way to a quick World Series W. With their rotation and offensive approach the Mets are as good a bet as any to go all the way this year.
You are the definition of a sore winner. You can put that in the books.
Hernandez is and will always be a tool. His opinion holds as much weight as others of his ilk like Clemens, Papelbon and Canseco. In other words, not much.
Are you sure you’re a philly fan? You’re too objective to be a philly fan. I was watching HK’s call of Schmidty’s 500th and couldn’t help but opine how terrible your guys are. To go from the greatest (sorry Vin) baseball announcer to this slop is very sad.
It’s actually funny because Keith is almost always objective but he has moments like these where he just hammers certain teams. Though he has said things like this about the Mets, too believe it or not. You also have to consider that when Keith said what he said about the Phillies, he had only watched them through May this year. From that perspective, the Phils were playing very bad baseball, at least against us. I watched every game against the Phils this year. Their brand of baseball from April to when Girardi got fired was the worst fielding I have seen from philly… ever. The bullpen was horrible too.
And in the few times I’ve listened to your announcers, they were biased to the point that it was overwhelmingly obvious and took away from the experience. I get most home announcers have a home bias. But some are worse than others. Yours are worse than the Marlins… which is saying something.
Been saying that all year.
Our current roster would cost $425,000,000. Let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. Very few teams can sustain a bullpen every year.
Marlins announcers are actually among some of the best IMO. They don’t get a lot of national play because they’re the Marlins.
The Mets being unwatchable doesn’t preclude the Girardi Phillies from being unwatchable. Especially when Keith has the option to skip Phillies games and doesn’t really have that option for Mets games.
The photos of Hernandez and his moobs say all that needs to be said. Is it possible the moobs are a side effect of the cocaine abuse during his playing days?
I’d say there’s a fine line between use and abuse and he then he snorted that line too because why let it go to waste?
It appears the difference between use and abuse is the ‘ab’.
Excuses, excuses. All I hear are excuses for the Phillies losing this series. That’s what happens when you face off against the top teams in the league and get dominated by an entire pitching staff.
To be fair. We are a absolutely juggernaut this year. And will be for the next 10+ years. Braves and Phillies fans will suffer because their teams will be good. But not good enough. Phillies are still a very good team.
Thank you Nostradamus.
He goes by Nostradumbass actually.
Every Phillies fan in here has said “The Mets are much better than the Phillies.”
Dude, shut it. You won the series. Enjoy.
No.
I just hope Abrams won’t take after Tatis Jr.
Maybe the Mets will sign Jed Lowrie.
Dude. Weak
Mets Roster and Manager, nothing but respect for them. I hope Guillorme recovers quickly.
Mets fans who like to talk **** despite having won nothing since 1986, nothing but disdain. Mets fans like to see Braves players hurt & injured and that goes directly to the low class human beings and the type of pathetic disrespectful fanbase that they have. You only have to look up the page at them making fun of Acuna who is one year removed from a serious ACL injury, and also making fun of Fried’s concussion on another page. That tells you everything you need to know about the Mets little trolls.
Take it down a notch, champ. The Braves have had enough injuries this year. We wouldn’t want you to have an aneurysm on top of it.
So now we have three McGriffs on the site? HoF, HR, and PED dudes. Any I’m missing?
@darkside. I have been here for years.
The above commenter making assertions about PED’s is a disgusting little troll with multiple user names with not one shred of proof of his absurd and false deluded accusations.
[Spoderman pointing meme]
Which is sad because i think “The Crime Dog” was probably one of the few consistent offense players that *didn’t* juice in his playing days.
Won nothing since 1986? They were in the WS in 2015. So now only one team a year can be said to have won anything?
In 2015 Michael Harris II and Vaughn Grissom were freshman in high school.
If you ain’t first you last!
Wrong Luis Garcia linked.
3B Brent Baty was recently moved up to AAA. The Mets will look at him before bringing him up. That would be very fortunate if a team is able to bring up it’s best prospect to fill it’s only weakness.
Nationals won the trade against the Padres big time.
The Nats really did a great job retooling a terrible farm system in one deadline. They could be an actual factor again in 2-3 years.